As part of:
Educating Women in the 21st Century Conference
April 22-23, 2010
Trinity College, Mather Hall
Hartford, Connecticut
The IEET’s James Hughes will speak on “The Future of Women’s Education: Changing Demographics of College-Age Population” (5pm-6pm) on Thursday, April 22, 2010.
Forty years ago Trinity College admitted its first full-time, regularly matriculated women students. In 1969 Trinity was part of a larger movement, especially in the northeastern United States, of traditionally single-sex male colleges to admit women (and for a smaller number of all-women colleges to begin admitting men). Since then the female population at Trinity has grown until it comprises about half the student body, and captures more than its share of academic honors. The movement toward coeducation has opened many doors of opportunity for women; Trinity’s own growing body of successful alumnae attests amply to the impact of the past forty years.
But coeducation has been a process, not an act; in many ways, the implications for Trinity and its compeers of admitting women (or men) are still playing out, and will continue to do so in this new century. Moreover, fundamental issues connected with race, class, sexual orientation, economic opportunity, uneven distribution of resources, political power, violence, and socio-cultural expectations continue to confront young American women and shape the ground on which they will build their lives. Seen through this optic, the challenges women face in the United States do not look all that different from the challenges faced by young women all over the globe. Almost everyone agrees that access to education is an unconditional good; but that consensus elides very serious questions: access in what context, juxtaposed against what cultural structure, to what end? Where is the agency of women in the pursuit of education, and what blocks the exercise of that agency? What does it mean to ask these questions from the standpoint of young women in Iran, who make up the same percentage of the college population there as in the United States, or from the standpoint of immigrant women in North America or Europe?
The conference seeks to bring together scholars in a variety of fields, with a variety of approaches and views, to consider in dialogue the interplay of the local and global in thinking about what it means to seek the education of women in the twenty-first century.
Day I: Thursday, April 22
Welcome: James Jones, President, Trinity College (12.15-12.20 pm)
Opening Remarks – Setting the Scene: Rena Fraden, Dean of Faculty, Trinity College (12.20-12.30 pm)
Prologue – Women in American Higher Education after the Second World War
Women entered higher education in the United States well back in the nineteenth century, but the decades after World War II saw a marked rise in the enrollment of women in colleges, driven by economic considerations, the integration of previously single-sex institutions, and demographic and social factors. The influx of women did not necessarily bring changes in the character or aims of institutions of higher education in their immediate train, and it took considerable time for women’s presence to make itself felt in structural ways. Moreover, the experiences of women of different races and classes was not the same; women of color, for instances, faced far higher and more challenging barriers. This preliminary section of the conference, which consists of a single panel, explores some of the dimensions of this fundamental change.
Panel 1 – Past as Prologue? Coeducation in Post-War America (12.30-1.45 pm)
Organizer: Gary Reger, Professor of History, Trinity College
Moderators: Cheryl Greenberg, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of History, Trinity College, and Trinity College student
Panelists
“Women as “Incidental Students” in Postwar America,” Linda Eisenmann, Provost, Wheaton College – 20 minutes
“The History of Black Women’s Higher Education in the Post-War Period” –
Marybeth Gasman, Associate Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania – 20 minutes
“Philanthropic Interest in Women’s Higher Education in the Postwar Decades,”
Andrea Walton, Associate Professor, History of Education and Chair, Foundations of Education Program, Indiana University – 20 minutes
Discussion – 15 minutes
Part I – Educating Women in the United States
The first part of the conference focuses on the future of women’s education in the United States, but also sets some groundwork – comparative and contrasting – for tomorrow’s sessions on a global perspective. We explore three large topics: the claims of some neuroscientists that fundamental differences in the chemistry and biology of male and female brains calls for different approaches to learning; the challenges of constructing notions of masculinity and femininity in a coeducation setting; and the ways in which demographics of college-age populations are expected to affect institutions of higher learning.
Panel 2 – Applications of Sex Difference Research to Education (1.45-3.15) 60 minutes
There is increasing evidence of sex differences in cognitive functions and in the incidence of certain neurological pathologies. It is unclear both what the etiology of these differences is and whether these differences have any impact on learning. This panel will examine what is currently known of sex differences in brain and cognition and critically evaluate whether these differences should inform educational approaches.
Organizers: Sarah Raskin, Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, and Dina Anselmi, Associate Professor of Psychology, Trinity College
Moderators: Sarah Raskin, Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, and a Trinity College Student
“Sex Differences in Cognitive and Neural Function: Implications for Biomedical Research and Education,” Karyn Frick, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Yale University – 20 minutes
“Males vs. Females: Who Gets Studied in Research? Potential Impacts on Education and Health,” Eve M. Valera, Director, Laboratory for Cerebellar Psychiatric Research, Clinical and Research Programs in Pediatric Psychopharmacology and Psychiatric Neuroscience Divisions, Department of Psychiatry, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School, Research Associate, Massachusetts General Hospital – 20 minutes each
Third Panelist – 20 minutes
Discussion: 15 minutes
3.15-3.30 – BREAK
Panel 3 – Masculinities, Femininities, and Sexualities in Coeducational Colleges (3.30-5.00) 100 minutes
Women’s reproductive health needs are very different from the reproductive health needs of men, and co-education highlights these differences. Women bear the brunt of reproductive health risks from unplanned pregnancy and sexual assault to stigmatization for overt displays of sexuality. Men, in contrast, are socially rewarded for sexual prowess and overt displays of masculinity. LGBTQ students can feel isolated by their sexuality and may face real threats for displaying any type of sexuality. What responsibilities do colleges have to mediate these inequalities? How can student activism address these issues on and off-campus? What added dynamics are present for LGBTQ students? This panel will explore these topics and highlight ways that college campuses can better meet the needs of their students.
Organizers: Theresa Morris, Associate Professor of Sociology, Trinity College, and Laura Lockwood, Director, Women’s Resource and Action Center, Trinity College
Moderators: Theresa Morris, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Amanda Persad, Trinity’10
“Coeducational Sex 40 Years On: From Familial Ties to Hooking Up” – Michael Kimmel, Professor of Sociology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Rachel Kalish, PhD candidate in Sociology, State University of New York at Stony Brook – 20 minutes
Regina Dyton: Community Activist, Hartford, Connecticut – 20 minutes
“Coeducation and Contraception” – Heather Munro Prescott, Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University – 20 minutes
“Reproductive Justice on Campus,” – Gretchen Raffa, Community Organizer, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England—20 minutes
Discussion: 15 minutes
Panel 4 – The Future of Women’s Education: Changing Demographics of College-Age Populations (5.00-6.00) 60 minutes
The population profile of the United States has been changing markedly over the past decade or two, as immigration, generational turnover, and other factors have made their impact. The rise in women’s attendance of colleges and a generally better academic profile than men have raised new challenges for higher education. There has been a great deal of speculation about the possible impacts of these changes on the college-age population in the next decade. This panel presents some of the evidence for these changes and considers some possible implications.
Organizer: Rachael Barlow, Director of the Social Science Center, Trinity College
Moderators: Rachael Barlow, Director of the Social Science Center, Trinity College, and a Trinity College Student
“Women’s Colleges in a Coeducational World” – Cate Rowen, Director of Institutional Research & Educational Assessment, Smith College – 15 minutes
“Educating Women in Our Aging, Workless, Post-Gendered Future” – James Hughes, Associate Director, Office of Institutional Research and Planning, and Lecturer, Public Policy Studies, Trinity College – 15 minutes
“The Implications and Causes of the Gender Imbalance in Higher Education?” – Rebecca Brodigan, Vice President of Institutional Planning and Assessment, Bowdoin College – 15 minutes
Discussion: 15 minutes
6.00-7.00 – Reception in Honor of Barbara Sicherman, Professor of American Studies, Emerita
Evening Free to Explore Hartford
* * * * * *
Day II: Friday, April 23
Part II – Socio-cultural Perspectives on Women’s Education
Yesterday’s panels explored questions on women’s places in post-secondary education in the United States. Today’s panels broaden our optic considerably by addressing the contested nature of gender and education around the world and highlighting such tropes as development, achievement and educational access as culturally embedded and culturally constructed within unequal fields of power. Each of the panelists devote special attention to how women experience, define and negotiate the meaning of education in diverse contexts and how their experience shapes and is shaped by relations of power and social inequality. The centerpiece of the day is the keynote discussion by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and we end with a general conversation to see where we stand after our two days’ conversations.
Panel 5 – Global Perspectives on Women’s Education (9.00-11.00) 120 minutes
Organizers: Vijay Prashad, Professor of International Studies, Trinity College, Andrea Dyrness, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, Trinity College, Jennifer Sandler, Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, Trinity College, and Janet Bauer, Associate Professor of International Studies, Trinity College
Moderators: Janet Bauer, Associate Professor, International Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Program, Trinity College
Moderators: Janet Bauer, International Studies Department, Trinity College, and a Trinity College Student
“Evolving Gender Theories, Policies, and Everyday Practices,” Professor Nelly Stromquist, International Education Policy Program, College of Education, University of Maryland – 20 minutes
Possible panelist from World Bank or CARE – 20 minutes
“Undoing Gender?: Examples of Innovative Pedagogy and School Practice from the global South,” Monisha Bajaj, Teachers College, Columbia University– 20 minutes
““Democracy Training’ for Women in War Zones,” Shahrzad Mojab from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto – 20 minutes
“Against the Grain of the American Dream: Stories from Latina Women’s Writing Groups,” Janise Hurtig, Center for Research on Women & Gender, University of Illinois at Chicago – 20 minutes
Discussion: 20 minutes
11.00-11.15 – Break
Keynote Discussant (11.15-12.15) 60 minutes
Moderators: Jennifer Sandler, Visiting Assistant Professor, Educational Studies, Trinity College, and a Trinity College Student
Keynote Discussant – Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor, English and Comparative Literature Department, Columbia University – 40 minutes
Discussion: 20 minutes
LUNCH (12.15-1.00)
Interlude – Student Research on Gender at Trinity College, 2009-2010
Panel 6 – Student Research on Questions of Gender (1.00-1.50) 50 minutes
Seniors across majors at Trinity engage every year in research projects that deal in fundamental ways with questions of gender. This conference provides a good opportunity to showcase some of this student research.
Organizer: Rachael Barlow, Director of the Social Science Center, Trinity College
Moderators: Joan Hedrick, Professor of Women, Gender, & Sexuality and History, Trinity College and a Trinity College Student
Molly Fitzgerald (Sociology, access to health care concerning productive rights) – 10 minutes
Kristin Collier (History, Marie Antoinette, women and power) – 10 minutes
Isabella Glaser (Psychology, cultural differences of collectivism and individualism) – 10 minutes
Geneva Gann (Psychology, relationships and masculinity in gangs and fraternities) – 10 minutes
Discussion: 10 minutes
Break: 15 minutes (2.00-2.15)
Panel 7 – Exclusion and Activism (2.00-4.00) 120 minutes
This panel addresses the experiences of women of color, immigrant women, and queer and lesbian women in (and around) college and their diverse struggles against forms of education and schooling that continue to exclude and marginalize them. As these women confront the “gatekeepers” of American higher education—including financial aid, standardized test scores, the official and hidden curriculum, counselors, professors, and peer culture—they fight to expand our definitions of who has the right to be educated, what counts as knowledge, and whose knowledge counts.
Organizer: Andrea Dyrness, Assistant Professor, Educational Studies, Trinity College
Moderators: Andrea Dyrness, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, Trinity College
“The Unique Situation of Undocumented Students: New Forms of Exclusion and Activism in Higher Education,” Kysa Nygreen, University of Massachusetts, Amherst – 20 minutes
“Testimoniando: Latinas Engaging Chicana Feminist Praxis to Challenge and Heal the Wounds of Racism”, Mariela Nuñez-Janes , University of North Texas, Anthropology Department – 20 minutes
“Unpacking Research Paradigms and Rendering (In)visible Cultural Strengths of Black and Latina Women to Increase their College Access,” Michelle Knight-Diop, Associate Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University – 20 minutes
“’In Your Face About It’: Sexuality, Student Activism, and the Limits of Tolerance,” Katie Elliot, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Educational Policy Studies – 20 minutes
“Against the Grain of the American Dream: Stories from Latina Women’s Writing Groups,” Janise Hurtig, Center for Research on Women & Gender, University of Illinois at Chicago – 20 minutes
Discussion: 20 minutes
Where Do We Go From Here? General Discussion and Concluding Remarks (4.00-5.00)
Moderator: TBA
Concluding Remarks: TBA – 15 minutes
General Discussion: 45 minutes
Dinner and Dance (6.00-10.00)
Dinner and informal dance party for panelists, organizers, moderators, student participants, and guests
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